Today is the day on the calendar known as Good Friday. It is part of the Holy Week leading up to Easter, always the Friday after Palm Sunday. In my childhood customs, the day was set aside as a religious holiday and was a day for fasting, prayer, and much contemplation about the trial, suffering and death of Jesus. Eerily, on that day, the sky would grow overcast around 3 PM which lent a certain seriousness and quiet quality to the day. My father would always point out how the sky was growing dark. Based on an astronomical (not astrological!) method of computing the date of the Crucifixion, taking an eclipse into account, using the Apostle Peter's reference to a "blood moon," scientists calculate the actual day Jesus died as April 3, 33 AD. And, as I remember it, although a day off from school, it was not meant to be a day of frivolity.A light rain has fallen over much of the city today. The plants welcome a drink of water.
No comments:
Post a Comment